Around Town

UPDATED: Injured Kitty Helps AWLA Raise $80,000

It’s time for another Cupid update! As you know, we had a goal to raise $6,500 for Cupid’s care. Now after two days, multiple interviews and Cupid’s story reaching across the country, we just found out our current fundraising total – but you’ll have watch the video below to see how much money we have raised so far because of Cupid! Cupid continues to do well today and is switching between naps, snacks, and snuggles. He now has his own Instagram account, @savingcupid, where we will post daily updates. From now on we’ll just post weekly updates here on Facebook. We are so, so, SO grateful to everyone out there who has supported and/or donated because of Cupid…we are completely overwhelmed by your generosity and could not be happier to be a part of this community. THANK YOU!

Posted by Animal Welfare League of Arlington on Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Update at 5 p.m. on 2/20/20 — AWLA now says more than $80,000 has been donated.

Earlier: People have fallen in love with Cupid, an injured kitten brought to the Animal Welfare League of Arlington, and opened their wallets to help pay for his care.

The shelter near Shirlington received a call from a fellow animal rescue group in West Virginia on Friday — Valentine’s Day — that they had a seriously injured orange tabby that they were unable to care for. Cupid, as he was named, had been shot in the head with an arrow.

The Animal Welfare League brough Cupid to Arlington, paid for his expensive surgery, then asked the public for donations to help defray the costs.

AWLA set out to raise $6,500. In a Facebook post yesterday evening, above, the nonprofit’s CEO announced that it had received $65,000 from donors.

“This is fantastic… this is beyond my wildest expectations,” said AWLA CEO Samuel Wolbert, while making the dramatic reveal. “Thank you guys, Cupid is a fighter and as long as he’s fighting we’re going to do what it take to give him the care he needs.”

“Anything that we don’t use for Cupid, we’re going to be able to help so many other animals,” added AWLA spokeswoman Chelsea Jones. “We’re going to be able to say ‘yes’ when we get phone calls like this and to help when we need [to].”